Bonding Pouch Tutorial (seamless inside and out)
This tutorial will teach you how to make a completely seamless (and therefore not as chewy and tasty) bonding pouch to carry your rats in. Please feel free to modify the size of this pouch to accommodate the size of your rats. I find that my two (young) boys fit very nicely in this size with plenty of room to grow.
What you will need to sew this hammock (all measurements given in inches):
- Standard sewing apparatus (sewing machine, scissors, thread, measuring device, etc)
- 12" x 14" piece of cotton fabric
- 12" x 10" piece of same cotton fabric
- 12" x 14" piece of fleece
- 12" x 10" piece of same fleece
- 1 length of ribbon (I find somewhere between 30" and 40" to be ideal, but use what suits your size)
I'll just point out quickly that you don't have to use cotton. I adore cotton because of the variety of prints, but if you cut all of your pieces out of fleece then the bonding pouch becomes completely reversible.
The first sewing step is very simple. Take your two longer lengths (12" x 14") and pin them, right sides together. Sew around the outside, making sure to leave a small hole to turn the fabric right-side out. Trim the seams, turn the fabric right side out, and set it aside (if you make the hole at the bottom edge of the fabric, you don't even need to slip stitch it closed)!
Next lay your unused piece of fleece on the table, right side facing up. Put your sewn panel on top of it (fleeces touching) and line up the bottom edge.
You'll notice that the panel that has been sewn is slightly smaller than the unsewn piece of fleece (if it is bigger, you have it turned the wrong way!). That's fine -- just line up the bottom edge and center the sides as best you can. Now place your unsewn piece of cotton down on the whole pile, right side down. So you've got fleeces touching (right sides together) and cottons touching (right sides together).
Pin around both sides and the bottom edge, leaving the top unpinned. You'll see in the picture to the right that I have two pins close together, near the "top edge" of the smaller piece of fabric. You do not want to sew all the way up (on either side), as you need to leave room to slip-stitch this area closed later. I like to mark this part with two pins so that when I see it, I know to stop sewing!
Sew around the three pinned edges of the fabric (being sure to sew far enough in that you catch the smaller, already completed panel) and make sure to leave some space at the top of each side!
Trim the seams (don't trim anything above where you stopped / started your stitching) and turn the panel inside out and you will see that you almost have a bonding pouch! Fold the loose edge of the fleece and the loose edge of the cotton inwards and pin together. Slip stitch (or steam-a-seam if you prefer) the panel closed.
Now you just need to put in your (2) grommets and add ribbon. You'll notice that one panel is shorter than the other (and the longer panel can drape over to make a "flap"). You'll want to put your grommets in the top corners of the shorter panel, so that when you close the flap you can't see them.
Adding the ribbon is easy. Just thread one end through each of the grommets, tie into a little knot (pull very tight!) and trim the excess.
Here is my adorable little son (Alex) modeling the completed pouch with the flap up and the flap down.